Glastonbury Festival June 26th 2010 Highlights + Extras

I felt sure I'd already shared this here but looking back through the index I found that it's either vanished or just been misplaced. Or maybe it was never there at all? That being the case, it's time to take another slow walk back to June 26th 2010 to watch Editors' Glastonbury engagement. This was when the band were really starting to become accustomed to playing the songs from ITLAOTE, which was released in October of the previous year. In true Editors style they toured the hell out of it, probably to the point of mental infirmity, but this road-readiness meant that they were more than prepared for the stage at Worthy Farm. 

An illustration of just how well timed, familiar and practiced they were happens about half way through Papillon. If you pay really close attention you'll see Tom is clearly experiencing some microphone related issues, and he gestures towards the mixing desk a couple of times to indicate that something is up. Whatever problem arose clearly wasn't resolved because a few seconds later he abandons his mic over the keyboard in front of him, retrieves another one from somewhere else on the stage and continues singing without any interference in continuity. If you were just listening to the music without visuals then you probably wouldn't even be aware it happened. Professional musicians, kids. Even when frustrated, they are always respectful of the beat. 

There's a reason this is tagged as a highlights video, and that is because it's missing Bullets and Bones. Why? I don't know. It was sourced from 2 separate BBC IPlayer broadcasts as I recall, but neither contained those songs. There's also the small matter of the BBC wanting to act as your moral guardians and protecting you from the word "Fuck", so ERM=BD has a brief audio dead zone when that terrible and offensive word appears. They're trying hard to hide your soul, son. From things you're not meant to see...

They had a really good place in the running order for this one. Not drenched in the sweet, sweet darkness that befits their mournful noodlings but a sunset slot. It's ideal because the later in the day it is, the less powerful the sunlight is and thus the severity of the burns to the band and fans' paper-thin, pale fleshy bits is reduced. Always something to consider when you have to venture outdoors to listen to Editors.   

Before I go, here's something related to this show that will hopefully raise a big smile and put you directly back in touch with your heart. They played No Sound but the Wind here at Glastonbury, and a week later again at Werchter. The difference? The crowd at Glastonbury were still unfamiliar with the song, which is understandable given this was still the early stages of its life as a track, so they're not quite as vocal as you'll be used to if you've heard it live recently. However, if you take a close look at 1 minute and 45 seconds of the Werchter clip on the band's official YouTube profile, you'll see why it became an anthem for that venue and a song that has consistently been the biggest crowd singalong every time it's been played there since. As I type this it's been viewed almost 7 million times and its notoriety comes from the fact that one of the harcdcores found himself on camera, singing along with Tom. Still fun to watch. Belated congrats again to you, J. 

There's the highlights broadcast as well as an interview between Reggie Yates, Edith Bowman, King Leetch and Tom at the very end of this. There's also an interview with Craig Charles and a small cameo appearance from Ed in a video where the artists of the day chose their ideal fantasty Glastonbury lineup. Enjoy the music ;)

Broadcast Setlist

In This Light and on This Evening

An End Has a Start

Bones

Bullets

Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool

Blood

Munich

The Racing Rats

Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors

No Sound but the Wind

Bricks and Mortar

Papillon
Interview

stream it here

Damn, King Leeth. Your ears are pleasingly clean. Kudos to your personal hygiene regime, Sir.

Bonus Materials

Question; do Tom and Russell clean behind their ears? You better believe they do! How do I know? During this interview with comedian and poet Craig Charles that's pretty much all you get to see. The cameras have been set up to provide almost complete anonymity for Mr Smith and King Leetch, something that was purely accidental I'm sure. Check it out ;)

stream it here

Lastly, this is Ed playing a very brief role in a segment for the BBC where musicians that were playing Glastonbury in 2010 gave their ideal, fantasy lineups for the festival. Enjoy ;)

stream it here

brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x